Kim Ok-bin slays at the 70th Cannes International Film Festival in The Villainess

At the opening midnight screening for the 70th Cannes International Film Festival, Kim Ok-bin’s (Yoo-na’s Street) crime-thriller Villainess premiered to three full minutes of standing ovation from a diverse crowd of directors, actors, and film industry VIPs. And even judging from these short trailers, I can totally see why: The level of action is off the charts! The movie tracks an elite assassin trained from childhood to be a deadly killing machine, as she penetrates a labyrinth of conspiracies and secrets to take ultimate revenge.

The teaser begins with a man at the far end of a dank hallway, demanding to know who she is, when suddenly a gun points toward him from first-person POV and shoots. The copy reads: “I was raised to be a killing machine,” as we see Kim Ok-bin achieving multiple bullseye shots with a sniper rifle and moving through the streets of Seoul unnoticed. Kim Seo-hyung’s (The Good Wife) voiceover asks “Isn’t she useful?” and Kim Ok-bin’s masterful wielding of guns, sabers, and long knives are seen through impressive action shots on moving vehicles.

Kim Seo-hyung plays Kim Ok-bin’s handler, and in the trailer above, brief moments are shown of her and the other main cast members, Sung Joon (Perfect Wife) who plays a covert agency operative and Shin Ha-kyun (Pied Piper) who plays a mysterious man closely tied with Kim Ok-bin’s life. This teaser-trailer concentrates on the most exciting elements, the thrill-raising scenes of Kim Ok-bin leaping off cars and jumping off high-rise buildings and bridges.

Directed by Jung Byung-gil (Confessions of Murder), the action-packed film is about a badass female assassin trained in the art of murder, scouted by the most secret government organization in Korea and given this ultimatum: “Work ten years for us, and you’ll be free. But the moment you’re found out, we will eliminate you.” The trailer ends with Kim Ok-bin’s resolve to take revenge on her creators: “I will show you what you made me.”

In a different version of the trailer, Kim Ok-bin wears a wedding dress with tears filling her eyes, as she walks down the aisle, thinking, “This face you see, it’s not me.” And soon we see her real self, a deadly emotionless killer assembling a gun while still wearing her wedding dress, taking aim at an unknown target. Sung Joon’s voiceover asks, “Who was the target?” but there’s no reply, only a scene of a bloodied Kim Ok-bin strapped to a chair. Then we hear Shin Ha-kyun say, “I was the one who created you,” and Kim Ok-bin vows revenge as she replies, “I will show you what you made me. Because I can’t live as long as you’re alive.”

Oooh! This looks so good, and Kim Ok-bin looks so fierce as a lethal machine with her kohl-rimmed eyes, taking down anyone in her path without mercy or hesitation. According to reports, the actress trained for three months at stunt school for the role, and at the Cannes Film Festival, Park Chan-wook (who worked with her and Shin Ha-kyun in the 2009 film Thirst) personally cheered her on.

Thank goodness the domestic premiere is in two weeks because I can’t wait to watch! Villainess will be in Korean theaters on June 8.